Two of my fictional characters operate general
stores.
Lydia Longlow, the love of Sheriff Sylvester
Tilghman in a two-book series, runs a general store started by her father in
the fictional community of Arahpot, Pennsylvania. And Ellen Kauffman is proprietor
of a similar establishment in my latest novel, Something So Divine.
In the 19th century, the time period of both novels,
general stores were the center of rural communities. Not only did they supply
food and other necessities for the community, they also served as a central
meeting place for gossip and business and, often, as post office, polling place
and even courtroom.
But I realize younger readers more familiar with
shopping centers and specialty stores might not realize the importance of these
mercantile operations to our ancestors.
Unlike the spacious, orderly and convenient stores
of today, these emporiums were generally cramped, cluttered and dark. An array
of shelving took up wall spaces and boxes, barrels, crates and other containers
crammed the floors. A main counter for dealing with customers would hold the
cash register, coffee grinder and scales for weighing various items.
The air in the store would be heady with a mix of
scents, both pleasant and unpleasant--ripening fruit, various spices, teas and
freshly ground coffee beans, cheeses, honey and molasses, soaps, toiletries and
patent medicines, cigars and tobacco, not to mention human body odor and
possibly animal manure tracked in by customers who failed to wipe their feet at
the door.
The average store would have a supply of any of the
various items that might be needed by town-dweller or farmer, from food and
wearing apparel to tools and agricultural implements, sometimes including
luxury items not otherwise available in rural areas.
Since money was often scarce in such locations,
storekeepers usually ran a line of credit for regular customers as well as
sometimes engaging in barter for items they might sell to others.
As a youth I accompanied my father to country sales
where he purchased antiques and curios, some of which he refinished and sold to
dealers and other collectors. We sometimes stopped for refreshment at country
stores which served the Amish and Old Order Mennonites in our area of
Pennsylvania. Because I was familiar with these old-fashioned stores, it needed
little research to create such establishments for my fictional characters.
